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Olivia’s 3 Month Update

Because I just started back blogging two weeks ago, I didn’t write out Olivia’s one or two month update on my blog, but I did write it out for myself to have. It was the consistent writing of memories on Google Docs that helped me realize how much I missed writing. I’m excited to be able to share her three month update!

In all of my updates (all two besides this one…) I have made some comment along the lines of how much Olivia has changed over the course of the month. I keep telling myself there won’t be many changes in the next month or that she’ll slow growing. I want her to be my baby forever! But, this month is no different. Wow! What a little person she’s becoming. I’m blown away.

Schedule

I want to write a separate post about what has worked for us, but I’m generally following a Babywise or E.A.S.Y. schedule. Olivia still isn’t at a point where she naps at the same time or goes to bed at the same time each day, but we’re pretty good about following a three hour cycle. She wakes up, eats, plays, and then goes back down for another nap. I realized that she was awake for too long during month two and wasn’t taking long enough naps, so her awake time got shortened this month, and it has truly paid off. She’s normally awake and playing for about an hour to an hour and twenty minutes before it’s time for bed again. That includes her eating. This has worked very well for us in keeping her happy and smiling and talking 90% of the time. The only problem is that when we can’t follow the cycle it sometimes throws me off. I’m getting better about it, as I’m also trying to get out of the house everyday; it does lead to the cycle getting thrown off at least once per day.

Olivia is still doing very well with eating and latches well. Because I have a fast let down, she has become a little lazy with her latch, and it has led to some blocked ducts in the last couple of weeks. I’ve been working on relatching her if she gets lazy. She is still eating a lot, and she is still spitting up a lot.

The spitting up has been present since we came home from the hospital. The doctor has always said, and continues to say, that it is a laundry problem for Olivia. She is gaining weight as she should be, she’s happy, she’s not in pain, and she really is more happy once she spits up. It’s almost like her tummy is just too full and she needs to get it out. We’re just constantly changing her clothes and washing burp cloths. Like I mentioned, we go through them incredibly fast.

I ended up taking Olivia to the doctor on Monday to check on her eye that has a plugged tear duct, and she was weighed again. She is up to 12 pounds and 1 ounce. She’s grown almost 2 full pounds since her 2 month appointment, and I can see it in her cute rounded face!

Sleeping

During the daytime, Olivia naps about 4 times. Around 7 or 8 weeks I was really struggling with getting her to nap. She had been downstairs in the living room with us for all of her naps, and suddenly it just wasn’t working for her. When I finally tried the crib (which I was so reluctant to do), she started napping better and being an overall happier girl. As I realized this I got to the point where I swaddled her and put her in her crib for all of her naps.

Between realizing that she needed to be awake for less time and swaddling her for her naps in the crib, she is now getting enough sleep. Sleep truly is something that becomes such a stressor for a mom, but no one really tells you about it before they’re here.

In the last couple of weeks she has been getting about an hour and a half to two hours in the morning following by a few one hour naps as the day goes on. Of course, that fluctuates and there will be days where she has three two hour naps and days where she just takes a bunch of 45 minute naps or refuses a nap all together. We’re at the point now, though, where I’m pretty confident that she’ll follow the normal trend about 75% of the time.

My favorite nap of the day happens around 6, and it’s where she sleeps in the wrap on me while I cook dinner or get things done. Olivia doesn’t have a problem falling asleep in the wrap as long as I’m bouncing her or walking around. She’ll even fall asleep in loud places like this.

My biggest concern about daytime sleep is getting her ready to nap at daycare. So far I have her napping with the blinds and drapes open in a bright room, but I need to cut the swaddle and white noise soon to mimic those conditions. Anyone have experience transitioning to daycare naps? How did that go?

At night, Olivia still sleeps in our room in a Halo bassinest on Tim’s side of the bed. She has slept there since we came home from the hospital, and he keeps finding reasons that we need to just keep her there. I’m very lucky that Tim gets up with me during the night to help as I need it, even if it just means handing me Olivia to feed her.

Our night time routine is very short, because by the end of the day she’s still getting pretty heavily fussy and just needs to be put down. We give baths every other night, and then the routine is the same: change the diaper, put on the Snuza, put on a onesie, wrap her in her Halo Sleepsack, and feed her. We don’t do a book, because she’s normally screaming by the time it’s time to eat. We’re still working on figuring out a bedtime…

70% of the time Olivia sleeps from the time we put her down until 3 o’clock or so. Sometimes it’s a little earlier and sometimes a little later. She has one long stretch and then generally wants to get up in the 6:00-6:15 range. We’ve been working on pushing that a little later, because it makes for a really long day for her if she’s up and fed and ready for the day before 7. This morning we were successful in doing another feed and getting her back to sleep. I’m considering implementing the dreamfeed for her to make it longer.

Play

Olivia rolled over from her stomach to her back after a few weeks home from the hospital, but then she went through a period where she didn’t do it for a while. This month she’s started more regularly rolling from tummy to back during tummy time a couple of times. Her head control has improved, and she can hold it up on her own for short periods of time. I still work to do tummy time a couple of times a day to help with head strength. She can lift it up to full 90 degrees, but sometimes she does it and sometimes she doesn’t. I think she’s going to be a stubborn one.

She loves the rattle, and she will even grasp it herself and shake it. I’m sure the shaking part is just her reflexes still, but it’s cute because it looks like she’s shaking it. She does love the noise, and she’ll hold onto it for 30 seconds to a minute before dropping it.

We also play with a few other toys, but she doesn’t engage a lot with other things quite yet. We just use the Lamaze Captain Calamari toy to rub different fabrics against her. She loves feeling different things, especially with her feet. When we have her in her Boppy lounger on the couch she loves rubbing her feet along the fabric of the couch and pushing on it. I know that’s something that babies are supposed to be doing at this age, so I’m glad we’re able to see the milestones happening.

Her favorite thing to do is lay under her Fisher Price play gym and kick and swat at the animals. I set it to only play music when she hits the animals, and whether she realizes that or not, she kicks at the animals when the music goes off and then stares and smiles at the lights that go on and off while the music plays. She coos and giggles while she’s playing, and it’s the cutest thing. I have too many videos on my phone of it.

Activities during three months

We started water babies this month and made it three times! Olivia liked it the first week, wasn’t so sure the second week, and smiled and loved it the whole time the third time. There were no tears! I’m so happy she loves the water so much; I absolutely adore taking her to that class. We sing songs, push off the wall, practice falling into the water while I hold her, and she floats on her back while I hold her head. I don’t smile bigger anywhere else right now.

Grandma came to visit this month, and I loved seeing her hold Olivia. It’s particularly hard for me having my mom live so far away, but it’s nice to be able to FaceTime her with Olivia regularly. Olivia knows the sound of her voice on Facetime, so when she comes to visit she isn’t a stranger to Olivia.

We started going out a lot! We’ve gone to the zoo, Target quite a few times, a friend’s house a couple of times, and lunch a couple of times. I’ll often make the trips fit into one or two of the three hour cycles I mentioned above, and I’ll put Olivia into the Tula or Solly Wrap and she’ll fall asleep for 30-45 minutes. It works out well.

Her smiling and talking has increased tenfold. She started smiling and talking at around 6 or 7 weeks, but especially in the last two weeks she is constantly smiling and talking during her awake time. She makes several different sounds and loves repeating the sounds over and over. When we make eye contact with her and smile she gives us a HUGE grin with her mouth and her eyes. I could sit for hours and keep smiling at her and getting the smile back if she didn’t get tired and need a nap. I love her so much.

She loves Tim so much, and she will talk to him and smile at him all night when he gets home from work before bath or bed. When he gets up to do dishes or get something ready for the morning she’ll follow him with her eyes and her head. He also loves it, as now he’s sure she knows who he is. She smiles at me as well, but because I’m with her all day at this point I sometimes think she cherishes the time she has with her dad even more.

Olivia, you have become quite a little girl this month. Your personality is starting to come out, and we love it. You’re clearly very smart, as I believe you really understand when you go to your room you’re going to take a nap (and don’t like it) and when I start to put on the wrap you smile because you know you’re going to be worn. You’re also so strong! You can stand up on your legs with all your weight while I hold you, though you get very wobbly and have a concerned look on your face! Your daddy and I love you so much, and as you continue to grow we love you even more. I do miss your teeny tiny baby stage, but as people keep telling me, I really do love you more every day. You have chunky little wrist rolls that I know won’t stick around forever, and your arms are the sweetest. I hope I can remember the feeling of holding your arms and little hands forever. I love your feet, too, but it’s your arms and hands that really get me. Your coos and babbles are so smart, and I’ll ask you questions and you’ll respond as though you really wish you could say something. It’s precious. I love holding you, but after a bit you want to be put down on your lounger so you can watch the fan or look out the window. You’ve also recently started liking to be sitting up. I’ll sit you up on the couch and let you look out. Don’t grow up too fast on me. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for your fourth month, and I can only imagine how much you’ll grow and change. It’s all happening so fast! We love you so much, Mommy and Daddy

Comments

She is absolutely adorable. It's so good that you're writing this all out now, because you will forget. At least I did! I love that elephant rug/stuff animal thing. Too cute. And too cute that she loves diaper changes. My boys hate it now.

Our daughter just started daycare this week at 16 weeks. I didn't really worry about her daycare naps. At home we use the sound machine (not sure she really needs it), have the blinds closed, and put her in a sleep sack. We sent her to daycare with a sleep sack. She's been falling asleep fine at daycare, taking 3 naps each day. They are shorter than usual but not bad. At home she normally naps 45-60 mins and at daycare they have been about 30-35 mins. and the daycare ladies all say she'll adjust within a few weeks and sleep like a champ. All of that long winded answer to say don't worry about it, she'll be fine! 🙂 And we use the Snuza too, you're the first person I've heard that uses it besides us. I love that thing!

I love the Snuza. It gives us such peace of mind. I’m glad to hear that about daycare. I actually went ahead and closed the drapes today and have gotten better naps. I guess she can adjust when she gets there. I’ll just feel bad for her if she gets little sleep; but like you said, they’ll end up adjusting I’m sure.